AB Lindex divests the Twilfit chain

AB Lindex sells its Twilfit operation to a consortium led by Anders Arnborger.

Lindex has signed an agreement with a consortium led by Anders Arnborger for the sale of its Twilfit operation. The sale means that Lindex will divest 38 wholly-owned Twilfit stores, 10 franchise stores and the Twilfit brand name. The transfer of the operation will take place on 1 September 2005. Ahead of the transfer, Twilfit will be restructured into a separate company within the Lindex Group. Thereafter, the consortium will take over the running of Twilfit. All of the approximately 250 staff in the stores involved will be offered employment in the new company. The deal involves a one-off write-down of goodwill amounting to SEK 25M. This will not affect the cash flow. The transaction will also have a positive effect on profit per share. Lindex will retain six Twilfit stores in Stockholm and Uppsala and transform them into Lindex stores. The stores are: Täby centrum, Odenplan, Fridhemsplan, Sergel, Drottninggatan and Uppsala Forum. This will strengthen both the profitability and growth of Lindex’s Swedish operation. “With the sale of Twilfit we can focus all our resources on the Lindex brand and our Lindex stores. Twilfit will have better prerequisites to develop outside the Lindex Group and we believe that the consortium led by Anders Arnborger will be a good owner of Twilfit,” says Göran Bille, President and CEO of AB Lindex. Anders Arnborger is the founder and former President of WBM which owns the rights to the Björn Borg brand. When Anders Arnborger left WBM in 2004 he sold all his shares in the company. AB Lindex (publ) For further information, please contact: Göran Bille, President and CEO of AB Lindex Telephone: +46(0)31 739 50 02 Mobile: +46(0)703 44 43 04 Peter Andersson, Chief Financial Officer of AB Lindex Telephone: +46(0)31 739 50 10 Mobile: +46(0)705 84 44 37 Anders Arnborger Mobile: +46(0)705 46 00 15